Tuesday, Aug. 17, 1999 | 11:24 a.m.
Motorists streaming onto Pecos-McLeod Road from Desert Inn Road and Twain Avenue last week found orange barricades blocking the bridge over Flamingo Wash.
The bridge was closed after county workers spotted a large cavern underneath the road at the south end of the bridge. It will remain closed for another two weeks.
Such closures are telling reminders of the July 8 flood -- reminders that could last as long as a year as county workers tackle nearly 180 repair projects to put the county's roads, sidewalks and washes back in shape.
Nearly 3 inches of rain poured onto parts the valley during the three-hour storm. Floodwaters ripped up asphalt and buckled sidewalks. Roads were washed out and valley washes were eroded and filled with debris.
The storm caused the valley's worst flooding since 1984 and resulted in an estimated $20.5 million in damage.
President Clinton declared the flood a federal disaster and approved federal funding to help Clark County and Las Vegas in cleanup and repairs of roads, channels and other public facilities damaged by the flood waters.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency will pay for part of the repairs. The state of Nevada, Clark County and the city of Las Vegas are required to pay 25 percent of the costs, about $5.1 million.
But the Pecos-McLeod bridge problem came as something of a surprise.
Erosion from the flood created a new channel under the roadway, said John Murdoch, maintenance manager for Clark County Public Works, and the damage was somehow overlooked during two previous inspections. Had repairs not begun last week the bridge could have collapsed, he said.
Nearly 5,000 cubic yards of dirt had eroded, essentially turning the south end of the road into another bridge.
"The concrete approach slab to the bridge was the only thing supporting the road," he said. "I don't even know how it stayed up."
The high-traffic bridge connecting Desert Inn and Flamingo Road will remain closed for two more weeks while crews make an estimated $380,000 in repairs.
While some of the flood-related projects were completed within weeks of the storm, other projects will take at least a year to complete, Patricia Cook, spokeswoman for the Department of Public Works, said.
Crews will continue to remove silt and debris from valley washes, clean roads and repair washed-out or buckled sidewalks. Road shoulders will need to be filled, repaired and reconstructed.
Cost of the individual repairs range from $500 to more than $2 million.
Mud and gravel removal on some roads was completed immediately. Repairs to arterial roadways and pedestrian accesses are near completion. Smaller projects such as shoulder repairs could be completed within a month and a half, Murdoch said.
Workers will then move on to the larger projects such as repairs to Spencer bridge, where the top layer of asphalt was washed away.
"The wash and channel projects are some of the long-term projects that could take up to a year," Murdoch said.
Total estimates to repair roads and other public facilities in the county come to $17.5 million. City damage is estimated at $3 million.
In addition, foundations were cut from under the homes at the Miracle Mile Mobile Home Park on Boulder Highway that backs up to the Flamingo Wash.
The most costly projects are repairs to Duck Creek and the Flamingo Wash, Murdoch said.
The flood-related projects include:
* $2.4 million to repair erosion in Duck Creek from Mountain Vista Street to Lamb Boulevard.
* $2.3 million to repair heavy erosion in Duck Creek from Lamb Boulevard to Sunset Road.
* $1 million to clean the Las Vegas Wash from Vegas Valley Drive to a Clark County School District access road.
* $878,328 to repair damage to flood control devices and erosion in Duck Creek from Russell Road to U.S. 95.
* $880,000 to remove debris in Duck Creek from Pebble Road to Pollock Drive.
* $702,920 to remove debris, and fill in areas at the Las Vegas Wash from Vegas Valley Drive to a Clark County School District right of way.
* $600,000 to repave Spencer Street and repair erosion near the Flamingo Wash at Viking Road and Katie Avenue.
"Normally the smaller floods in the past were isolated to one wash and didn't bring down a lot," Murdoch said. "This one was the whole west side."
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